Sanity lies in doing little stuff

Himself occasionally entertains fantasies about having a manservant, a Jeeves tidying up after him, laying out his clothes, toasting his bread, putting the remote control where he can find it, and doing bits of boring paperwork, all with a faintly indulgent smile, while Himself busies himself with japes, capersand Important Work.

In fairness, this sun-averse man also occasionally entertains fantasies about buying a yacht.

I thought about this recently when meeting up with a friend who works for a large medical company.

She was there from the beginning, when it was a small GP practice.

Now they have many doctors, all busy and important.

However, the doctors all shared one gripe: the day-to-day stuff got in the way of The Big Stuff.

And don’t we all know that feeling, that if we didn’t have to cook another wretched dinner, answer another stupid e-mail, we could conquer the world?

What these medical professionals needed, everyone said (including themselves), was help with the routine work, leaving doctors to tackle the complex issues for which they alone were equipped.

Duly, the company grew a network of administrators and assistants, with nurses stepping in to relieve the doctors of the things that took up so much of their day-to-day practice: the blood tests, scans, smears, vaccinations, ear wax removals, minor procedures, chats with lonely pensioners… Several years on, the doctors are more stressed than ever.

Every day, they face complex medical conditions, difficult diagnoses, and intricate treatment plans. What they don’t have any more is breathing room.

It seems that being relieved of the tasks that were considered mundane meant they were also relieved of the things that balanced their days.

A win is a win, however small, and nobody realised how hitting the little targets reinforced doctors’ sense of competence and accomplishment, each successful completion resetting them for the trickier battles they faced.

The ordinary stuff didn’t hamper but, instead, supported their efforts to be extraordinary.

For us mortals struggling with tackling what really matters, perhaps the flipside of this is getting caught up in busy-work, the pseudo-activity of doing things we know we can’t fail at, while avoiding the potentially amazing things we fear we might.

And yes, I’m looking at me.